Starting with Twenty-Three Men, I Was Hailed as the World's Greatest Warlord

[Alternate History | Ensemble Cast and Rival Powers | Management and Warfare | Dark Humor]

On his third day after transmigrating, Zhu He'an takes over a ramshackle outfit in an utterly hopeless state. His father died after a failed rebellion, his neck broken, leaving him with nothing but twenty-three starving misfits.

The treasury holds just eleven taels and seven qian. The imperial seal is a battered wooden stamp from a seafood shop, used to stamp invoices. The court officials are either martial arts school disciples looking for a free meal or useless admirals with broken ships. Forget restoring the dynasty: they can barely hold on to a leaky, dilapidated temple.

Just as Zhu He'an is about to disband the group and run, an urgent report from County Magistrate Zhou, carried eight hundred li, shakes the court: “The fake Ming rebel leader Zhu He'an commands five thousand troops, including eight hundred elite fighters! He occupies more than ten strongholds on Mount Wu and has stockpiled countless provisions. Any day now, he'll sweep through several counties!”

Staring at the wanted poster, Zhu He'an is completely dumbfounded. Surrender means death by slicing, hiding means waiting to die, and disbanding the group means being wanted across the country. With no way out, Zhu He'an takes a deep breath. “Fine, Magistrate Zhou. Every boast you've made, I'll make it come true, one by one!”

The magistrate says he has five thousand men, so Zhu He'an gathers refugees and unites the mountain strongholds until he reaches that number. The magistrate says he has eight hundred elite troops, so Zhu He'an recruits martial arts masters and sets up forges to build a battle-hardened army.

The magistrate says he controls the trade routes, so Zhu He'an opens saltworks and expands maritime trade, restoring the broken flow of revenue!

The local officials' reports grow more and more exaggerated, while Zhu He'an's territory expands with every battle. From a ragtag band of twenty-three to the most fearsome power between the mountains and the sea; from a makeshift outfit with no way to survive to a colossus vying to rule the world!